11 Real-Life Lessons for Entrepreneurs -- and Intrapreneurs

As some may know, last week was National Small Business Week in the U.S., a time to recognize and celebrate the role small business plays in our economy. Two years ago or so, I kicked off a virtual listening tour with female founders and business owners across the country to better understand the journey of an entrepreneur and, quite frankly, help build my own “intrapreneur” chops. That tour continues and, in the spirit of paying it forward to aspiring entrepreneurs of all ages, below is an edited recap of what my “focus group” would tell their younger entrepreneurial self: 

Follow your true north. Starting a company takes guts. There will be lovers, and there will be haters. If you follow your true north, you will know which advice to take and which to let slide off your back. And when in doubt, consult the  Disapproval Matrix. — Sara Holoubek, Founder & CEO, Luminary Labs ( @sarita)

  Go with your gut instincts. My mother has always said to me, ‘if you don't have yourself, you have nothing at all.’ I think about this phrase a lot as an entrepreneur because it's easy to get caught up in what other people tell you is important to be focusing on or what to do for your business. When decisions are tough you can be very vulnerable to what other smart people and trusted advisors think you should do. But at the end of the day, it's just advice and the work and success of the business is on your shoulders. So while it is valuable to collect advice from others, it's key to trust in your instincts and do what feels smartest or best to you. — Stacey Delo, CEO, Maybrooks ( @maybrooksjobs)

  Don’t confuse working ON your business with working IN your business. Working IN your business means doing your day job. Many entrepreneurs just launching must wear many hats and the day-to-day work is all-consuming. But you have to step back on regular basis and work ON your business. This means dedicating time for professional development, business development, growth strategy, financial analysis — tasks that don’t have an immediate ROI and can’t be billed to a client or charged to a customer. Working ON your business will rejuvenate you, focus you, and keep your intentions on track for what you set out to achieve in the first place! — Kristi Faulkner, President, Womenkind

  Get professional help. Invest in support/skill development/professional services; it is neither a weakness nor a luxury to pay people who can help build, steady, or streamline your business. It took me years, and some tough lessons to recognize that I needed help with legal, promotional, and other practical matters (office organization, anyone?). The time and money spent on experts who could fine-tune the mechanics of my practice were well worth it. Whether it’s graphic design or presentation coaching (ok, I personally did not need that), find the right consultants and their contributions will more than make up for their fees. — Raleigh Mayer, Founder, Raleigh Mayer Consulting

  Embrace mistakes. I wish I had known how priceless ‘mistakes’ are in the early stages of starting a business. Like many ‘type-A’ driven women, for years I was an unadulterated perfectionist. Those traits served me well when I was in a stage in my career where I was developing a specific skill set and then managing teams based on that expertise. When you launch your own firm, however, you suddenly become responsible for all sorts of things (legal, compliance, operations to name a few) that may 180 degrees away from your initial core competency.  In my early days I wasted too much time beating myself up for not knowing it all right out of the gate. Once I adopted the mindset that mistakes are like burps — they clear the air and allow a new better feeling (idea, concept, process) to come in, that's when my firm really took off.  And so did my happiness! — Manisha Thakor, CFA?, Founder & CEO, MoneyZen Wealth Management, LLC ( @ManishaThakor)

  Be frugal with your money and invest in networking. Put the money into talent and not furniture, rent and other expenses that doesn’t end up in the product or service you’re providing. Work virtually for as long as you can and take office space when you finally, absolutely need it. Do invest in the smartest and strongest team members you can find. Even if they can only offer part time help at first, keep them interested and around until you can afford to bring them on full time. They will help get themselves there! Lastly, network, network, network. — Sandy Sabean, Chief Creative Officer, Womenkind

  Choose your team wisely. Nothing is more important than your team. Surround yourself with lots of wildly capable women and men with expertise in different specialties. Ask for their help. Share your vision with them daily. You will be amazed by how much an effective team can accomplish. — Deborah Buresh Jackson, Founder and CEO, Plum Alley.

Adapt to thrive. Get your businesses expert positioning, mission and point of view clearly stated. If you don’t clarify what you do, who you do it for and to what value then you will end up saying ‘Yes’ to everyone and it’s not sustainable. At the same time, be adaptable within certain boundaries so you don’t close yourself off to new opportunities or resist change when what you are doing isn’t working any longer. — Paulette M. Carter,  CEO & Executive Creative Director, PCD Group

  Learn every day. At PlumAlley, one key to our success is a culture of constant learning. When you and your team keep learning, you will be agile and can adapt to face new challenges. Startups succeed or fail based on how agile and how quickly the team adjusts to new information.  For me, it isn't a great day unless I learn something. — Deborah Buresh Jackson, Founder and CEO, Plum Alley.

  Harness your strength. Success is a matter of strength: the strength of your business opportunity, the strength of your pitch and ability to influence, and your inner strength: confidence. Karen Griffith Gryga (@karengg), Managing Partner, DreamIt Ventures.

  Remember that not all money is created equal. If you decide to bring in investors be sure you are talking apples to apples, that you understand their motivations and expectations. Investors won’t necessarily share your passion — and that’s ok, but you need to both be on the same page about where the business is going. You need to be disciplined. All money isn’t equal. — Vatana Watters, Founder of Watters Design

Whether you are an entrepreneur or intrapreneur, what lesson would you share with your younger self?